Drop Larouche 2, Party Asks

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Democratic Party Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution urging state elections officials to purge two Lyndon LaRouche extremists elected to its state ticket.

The LaRouche candidates reserved comment on the move by Democrats, but a spokesman for Republican Gov. James Thompson called the resolution

``arrogant`` and said it disenfranchises the people who voted in the March 18 primary.

The resolution asks the Illinois State Board of Elections to declare the ballot spots won by Mark Fairchild and Janice Hart vacant because the two LaRouche disciples are ``hostile`` to the party and therefore ``not entitled`` to participate in the general election.

Under the resolution, Fairchild and Hart would remain on the ballot but run under another party identification in the November election. Fairchild won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor and Hart the nomination for secretary of state.

If elections officials remove Fairchild and Hart from the Democratic ballot, party leaders then would be able to appoint their replacements.

The Democrats will file their challenge to the ballot certification of the LaRouche candidates by Monday, the deadline for making such a move.

Robert Benjamin, a spokesman for Democratic governor candidate Adlai Stevenson, said that the former U.S. senator knew the resolution was being offered and that he supports it.

Benjamin said, however, that Stevenson still is pursuing a court ruling that would overturn a state law and allow him to mount an independent campaign. Stevenson has denounced the LaRouche candidates and said he will not run on the same ticket with them.

Benjamin said Stevenson ``is not overly optimistic`` about the prospects of the elections board accepting the Democrats` resolution. ``But if it`s successful, hallelujah,`` Benjamin said.

A.L. Zimmer, general counsel for the state elections board, said he knew of no precedent for the Democrats` action, but he refused to speculate on what might happen.

He added, however, ``I think the board would have to be convinced it has the authority to act.``

The resolution maintains that the Democratic Party is a ``voluntary association of individuals committed to certain policies`` and that the party has a right to protect its integrity.

It also asserts that courts have repeatedly held that a primary election is not a general election but rather a ``party function.``

``We have a new form of political terrorism and we have to come up with novel solutions to a complex problem,`` said Ald. Roman Pucinski (41st), a member of the Democratic Central Committee.

State Sen. Vince Demuzio (D., Carlinville), the new state Democratic chairman, said party officials ``must do everything in our power to purge these extremists from our ticket.``

Demuzio, however, refused to answer repeated questions about whether the resolution subverts the electoral process.

But Thompson spokesman David Fields said the Democrats should have dealt with the LaRouche issue before the primary election.

``Mr. Stevenson and the rest of the Democratic leadership took the voters for granted and the LaRouche candidates for granted and that is why they are in the mess they are in,`` Fields said.